The Mist and His Apprentice
by Lawliet Veneziano
Summary: Mammon is one of the best illusionists and psychics there is in the world, one of the greediest and probably one of the most dangerous too. There are only three things he cares about in his world though: his current money, his future money and his loyal apprentice Mikari. A somewhat-fluffy Mammon/OC story to the tune of the 100 Themes Challenge. First off "1. Introductions".
1. Introduction

Veneziano: Welcome to another of my weird fanfictions. I felt like doing the 100 Themes and since I already made this (and it fits the first theme) I decided to start with number 1: Introductions. ^w^

Nihon: Note, Mammon is an adult in this one. In this AU world, the Arcobaleno curse doesn't keep them in baby form all the time and Mammon is able to not only use his illusions to turn into an adult but actually fully do so but not for very long. The rest of the Varia may or may not know (I haven't decided yet; review and tell me what you think would be better/funnier).

Veneziano: For now though, enjoy! Oh and I don't own anything by the way. ^w^

* * *

_1. Introductions_

Give him a thousand lifetimes, a thousand times to try, a thousand memories to try and forget but he never would; Mammon was well aware that he would never as long as he was himself still forget the day he found Mikari.

It was just another Varia mission, a few years before Xanxus would wake up again and they'd meet the true next generation of Vongola; Squalo had given them all their missions for the week and Mammon's had been simple enough. Take down some scum who had been inching in on the Vongola's territory, killing innocents and bringing the police's attention to the families. Which was of course never a good thing.

That night was especially cold, Mammon felt the need to pull his cloak closer around him as he walked through the dark alleyways of the city, only the moonlight and Phantasma to light his way; the Varia illusionist took a moment to look around and listen to his surroundings, making sure he wasn't seen just yet. He wanted to get this over with quickly so he could return to the manor and count his money, a pastime of his he never could quite quit. Not that he ever wanted to.

After being satisfied he was still under the cover of surprise, the grown man walked into one of the buildings to one side of him, slipping in as quiet as a breeze, his cloak fluttering behind him. He closed the door behind him and silence fell again; everything seemed to be dark inside except a flickering light down the hallway before him, hidden partially by a halfway closed door. Obviously to him that was where his targets were hiding out, if it could be called that. Really it was more like they were simply waiting to be killed.

His face completely stoic, Mammon approached, readying himself for what was probably going to be an annoying fight. Unless of course he was quick and didn't give them the time to attack; upon coming onto the door, he took a deep but silent breath before casting his illusions. A few seconds later there was the small sound of strangling and Mammon peeked inside the door to see three of the men inside, the ringleaders of course, being strangled by snakes which had apparently come out of nowhere. Two of the lower men with them got up from where they were standing against walls, holding their guns, trying to shoot at the snakes in hysteria and only succeeding in hurting their leaders. Chaos ensued, Mammon made sure of that with more illusions of poisonous animals and within a matter of moments the whole gang was dead; really was stupid of them though to be all together in one room.

Feeling his job was done, Mammon sighed and turned to leave but was stopped by something he noticed out of the corner of his eye; another partially open door and what appeared to be a leg on the other side. He went over and pushed the door open gently to see inside. It was dark except for the moonlight filtering through a window, casting itself upon a body on the ground; it was of a girl sitting back against the wall, her long black hair looking slightly unkempt and covering her face. She wore a shirt that was far too big for her, falling off one shoulder, and ratty torn jeans; her wrists were handcuffed together and her legs were shackled as well, the chain connected to the wall behind her. For a moment, with her not moving, even Mammon thought she might not be alive, but then he noticed the gentle movement of her body as she breathed. Great, another survivor, he thought to himself and approached her. She moved her head up and looked at him, her hair moving to reveal her face and something around her throat; a collar it seemed though slightly different. Even Mammon had to frown at what it was; a shock collar, they'd put a shock collar on a human being. Soft blue eyes, sad eyes, stared at him and the illusionist stopped for a moment, just staring back at her. Seconds past before finally one of them spoke; it was Mammon incidentally, "Who are you?"

The girl didn't respond for a moment and he could see hopelessness in her eyes, an emotional pain that was deep and stopped her from showing eal emotion and yet something else, something familiar. Or the spark of something at least. Finally she spoke, her voice soft, small, "Mikari…"

"Hm," he said walking a little closer; he scrutinized her and her appearance for another moment. Really it wouldn't be hard to kill her and get it over with, he did want to get home, but there was still that something he saw in her. He couldn't help it; it wasn't like it was every day he found someone who obviously had the necessary trait to be someone like him.

He decided to take a chance; he reached out and grabbed one of her hands, the chains and cuffs melting away as he did so, and tried to lift her to her feet. The girl Mikari was obviously confused by this and was unsteady on her feet, ending up falling forward into him once standing; Mammon looked down at her, noticing how she was shorter than him, so small and fragile in a way. She was probably no older than thirteen, just a child; even for someone like him, he had to wonder how someone could do this to a child. He still wondered how anyone could do this to a child. He wouldn't find out until later her story, why she was there and how she ended up with the gang he was told to kill.

He pulled her along towards the door, feeling her trip and pull back at his grip as he did so but follow either way; her hand felt thin in his and she spoke again, a bit frantic, "Wh-what are you doing?"  
"Taking you with me," Mammon said and took her outside, never letting go, "Everyone here is dead. You're going to come with me."  
"Why?"

"Why are they dead or why are you coming with me?"  
"The latter…"

He took a moment to answer, during which he picked her up and Phantasma circled the illusionist assassin's head, allowing him to fly. It was only once they were in the air and almost gone that he finally answered, his tone completely serious, "Because I'm greedy and as such I want to take you as my apprentice. People like me aren't very common after all…people like us."


	2. Complicated

2. Complicated

Summary: There are always things we don't want to explain; Mammon finds out his new apprentice has a gift for finding those things.

"Master Mammon?" The voice pulled him out of the slight trance the illusionist had been in, bringing him back to earth; he was sitting back against a tree in the Varia manor's training grounds, the sunlight that filled the sky filtering through the leaves. He frowned a bit, not too pleased by being brought out of the meditation he had been doing in place of training, which the rest of the members were doing only a few feet away from him, but chilled his annoyance as he turned his small infant head to look at the speaker.

Beside him sat his apprentice though she had only been such for about a week or so; upon bringing her home with him, he'd spent almost three hours getting yelled at by the interim Varia boss, and that was a painful experience even for Mammon considering Squalo Superbi had the vocal cords of any of the thunder gods of any mythology, before finally getting permission to keep her around. She stayed with him, given a room right beside his so he would have to keep an eye on who the other members had decided to coin as "his pet", and when the illusionist choose not to train, as he did often when he was in his Arcobaleno infant form, she stayed next to him. This show of loyalty only seemed to fan the flames of the nickname but Mammon figured it was something more; looking at her clear blue eyes staring at him, he didn't see the loyalty of a pet or anything of the like. It was more like a child frightened and clinging to the side of a familiar figure.

"Yes Mikari?" He spoke, thinking to himself that he needed to teach her to call him something else; he didn't like the sound of "Master Mammon", which she had taken to calling him after being brought back.

"I don't understand somethings." This statement didn't surprise him in the least; she had taken to asking questions ever so often, mostly normal enough things like why the blonde boy kept grinning at her or why the tall one with the umbrella had so many piercings and even once she asked why Squalo was always screaming. After the first few times, all within the first hour or so she'd been in her new room with her, he had learned to simply answer her questions as that would make her stop asking at least the same or similar questions. She never asked after all why the blond boy hurt people or why the tall one was so creepy or even why Squalo sometimes was very quiet.

"Then ask; I'll take the cost and answering you out of Levi's pay I suppose," The avaricious illusionist spoke, climbing into her lap, a place he had taken to sitting in whenever they talked and he was like this; it made it easier for them both and she seemed to feel more at ease holding the baby illusionist. As usual she sounded a little calmer as she spoke again, "Where is the Varia's real leader?"

Mammon froze for a moment and he could have sworn the others did too but then he realized they couldn't have; they were too far away to hear the girl's soft voice. Still it was not the sort of question he really wanted to answer, none of them ever really like questions about their true leader.

He thought for a moment then spoke, "That's complicated…"

He didn't feel like explaining to her that their leader was frozen in ice.

"Oh…well why isn't he here?"

Again not an easy question, "That's also complicated."

"Alright," Mikari answered; she seemed to understand this wasn't a good subject so she changed it, "Master?"

"Yes, Mikari?" he answered, figuring she couldn't pick any question that was worse than that one.

"Why do you appear like this sometimes?" He was wrong. It was as if she could instinctively sense which questions were the most awkward, the least welcome to be spoken of. The illusionist frowned and shook his head, "That's the most complicated of it all. I'll tell you some other time, Mikari."

Frowning, Mikari nodded and started to absentmindedly stroke Mammon's head gently, letting silence fall over them for a moment. The sounds of the other Varia fighting could of course be heard but neither spoke until finally she did once more, "Okay. Then can you at least explain to me why Lussuria is so nice to me while Squalo and Levi seem to not like me."

He was shocked for a moment, more because that was a normal question and not something odd; he then smiled just a tiny bit and answered, "Lussuria has always wanted a girl in our little 'family' so of course he's nice to you. Ignore Levi and Squalo though; they don't like anyone."

"Yes Master Mammon."

"Oh by the way, don't call me that anymore. It sounds odd. Master or Mammon is good enough."

"Alright, Mammon."

* * *

Veneziano: Yay, theme number two!~

Nihon: We may or may not go in order; depends but we'll try.

Veneziano: Anyway, though it wasn't too good, I hope you guys enjoyed it ^w^

Mammon: Mu...


	3. making History

Making History

Summary: There has never been more than one illusionist in the Varia before. And Squalo has never succeeded in pissing off three before. Lots of history is being made tonight.

Looking back on the episode, it was obvious that it was all Squalo's fault to tell the truth. Everything that ever happened in the Varia could be counted as Squalo's fault, especially if you asked Xanxus; the sharkie second-in-command just never knew when to stay quiet, he never was truly quiet. But really, even he should have known better.  
It started at dinnertime; as per rules of the house as dictated, and enforced, by their frightening and scarred leader, the upper members of the Varia all sat around the big long table in the dining room, all at their preferred and usual seats. There was Xanxus at the head of the table, sitting in his huge throne, ripping and tearing at his meal, a steak of course, like he was a wild animal; of course anyone daring to make the comparison out loud would have died. To his left was Levi, managing to idolize their boss even as the man brutally terrorized his meat; to Xanxus' right was Squalo, somehow being as violent to his own food without looking as feral. Lussuria and Bel sat respectively by Squalo and Levi, with a strange trio sitting on the Levi side; there was an empty seat between Bel and them, separating them from the group in a way.  
One was of course Mammon, sitting on his phone books, ignoring the steak-murder going on; he ate silently, unaffected. Beside him as always was his nineteen year old apprentice Mikari who did as her master did and ignored Xanxus' manners. Not that Bel's sporadic maniac laughter and stabbing of his food was any close to "good manners". The third was Fran, the would-be replacement turned somewhat hostage and thirdary, if that was a word, Mist Varia. He picked at his food, staring at it without a word but without eating. Mikari glanced at him, noticing this lack of consumption and spoke, "Fran? What's wrong?"  
"The food is wrong," he said in his usual monotone, not really explaining himself.  
The others heard and a familiar loud voice rang, "Voi! What's wrong with the food?!"  
"I don't eat things with faces on them; that's what's wrong, long-haired commander," fran answered.  
"Silly, that doesn't have a face," Lussuria cooed.  
"It use to," said the boy still frowning.  
"Shishishi, so the froggy is a vegetarian? Don't wanna eat your friends? It's fun," Bel commented and giggled.  
Fran looked over, "Shut up, fake prince sempai."  
"Vooi! You both shut up! And you, replacement, just eat your food, it's good for you!" Squalo yelled before getting a wine glass to the head. He screamed and glared at Xanxus who just growled and told him to shut up.  
"No. I don't eat meat, I'm not a beast. Unlike some," Fran said.  
A knife came at his head and there was creepy laughter before Mikari cut in, worried, "Ne, Squalo, wouldn't it just be fine if Fran only eats his veggies? I'll take his share if he really doesn't want it."  
"No, the brat has to eat his food!" Squalo said angrily, "Voi, can't you just use your damned powers to make your meat into carrots or something!"  
"Illusions set on ourselves won't work if we hold even a little doubt," Mammon told the silver-haired commander, "Fran knows it's steak; even if he turned it into carrots as you said it probably wouldn't work or would still taste like meat."  
Fran pushed away his plate and Squalo looked pissed, "VOIIII! You illusionists are useless! Can't you do anything?!"  
Mikari frowned, looking a little hurt; Mammon looked at her then at Squalo. He didn't say anything though and dinner went by; Fran got away with just eating his veggies by throwing the steak at Bel at one point which caused dinner to be ended prematurely. The members all scattered and Mikari picked Mammon up from his book perch, holding him in her arms; before she could take him back to his room though he stopped her, speaking, "Mikari, go to Fran. I wish to talk with him."  
She looked at her infant mentor for a second then nodded, heading off to find Fran. She wouldn't question him though; after six years Mikari knew that he usually knew what he was doing. Mammon was older, wiser, more powerful and more experienced than her after all.  
They found the frog hat wearing boy in the living room, curled up in an armchair trying to read a novel; unfortunately it seemed Bel was still upset over the steak to the face and was stabbing both Fran and his book repeatedly, a crazed and sadistic laugh sounding from the prince. Mikari entered the room with Mammon and loosened her grip on him, allowing the mini-illusionist to float over to Belphegor and pull on the boy's hair. He wasn't pleased and looked at Mammon with a less-amused grin, "Kaching, what do you want, Mammy?"  
Mammon frowned, "I need Fran; go torture some small animal or something."  
Anyone who wasn't Varia would have died immediately for talking like that to Bel; actually anyone else in the Varia would have at least gotten stabbed except Xanxus. And of course Mammon as the prince liked the baby assassin so there would be no dead illusionist infant bodies tonight. Instead Bel pouted and huffed, getting up and stalked out probably to do just as Mammon suggested. It would surprise no one.  
Once the prince was gone it got a bit quiet then Fran spoke in his usual voice, "So what do you want?"  
"Help with something." Both Fran and Mikari looked at him at the same time; Mammon was, of the three of them, the best illusionist after all. Fran would become powerful too in time yes, but he wasn't there yet and as for Mikari her full potential also needed time. But at this point the two younger teenagers were merely children in comparison to him which all things considered was ironic as hell.  
Finally Mikari had to ask, "Help?"  
"Yes," Mammon said and landed on the arm of the chair, looking up at his apprentice before turning to Fran, "I wish to do something to Squalo."  
"Grampa Squalo? Why him?" Fran inquired, seeming a little interested now.  
"Dinner." Mikari made an understanding sound and Mammon went on, "He called us useless. I require payment for insults to my person and to the person of my apprentice. And since he was mostly yelling at you I decided you should assist in ensuring he pays for his comments."  
Mikari blinked then blushed a tiny at the insinuation her master actually cared about her getting insulted; Fran looked the same as usual then suddenly nodded, closing his book. He apparently agreed, "Okay then what's the plan?"

What transpired would have been called pure animal torture. If a silver haired human shark counted as an animal worth caring about it getting tortured. But once more he deserved it.  
It started the next morning with Squalo waking up at the crack of dawn as per norm; he liked to do some training early in the morning after all. He stretched and sat up in bed, yawning out a loud "Voi!" and got up; the sun was just starting to rise and everyone else was fast asleep. Well almost.  
He headed for his bathroom to brush his teeth and a few seconds passed. Then the manor rang with the sound of the loudest man-scream ever heard; in their bedrooms Belphegor and Lussuria both ended up whining and trying to ignore it, Levi sitting up and looking around in shock as if Xanxus was in trouble. And as for the Varia boss himself, well, he decided to give the loud swordsman one chance to stay quiet before he started shooting.  
Squalo didn't get the message; he charged out of the room, slamming his door behind him and screaming out as he went down the hall, "Voiiii! Bel, you brat! You're responsible for this aren't you?!"  
Xanxus growled but got up out of bed, taking along his guns as he went to find Squalo. He arrived at Bel's room around the same time Fran did though Luss and Mammon and Mikari were already there; they stood in the doorway, looking in as Squalo was yelling at Bel about his hair being turned hot pink in his sleep, which definitely sounded like something Belphegor would do. The only problem was...Squalo's hair was still silver like always. Xanxus growled and stepped closer, "Trash..."  
Squalo shut up immediately, looking over at his boss in time to see the gun raised and shot at him. It was mere skill that kept him alive and his clothes unsinged; Lussuria went off to ready for the day since he was already awake. Fran high-fived Mammon while no one was looking and the infant looked at Mikari, "Next."  
She smiled and nodded before running off, carrying him in his arms.

Part of the day went by fine and nothing else happened until it was time for afternoon training; everyone was outside of course, most of them actually training. The trio of illusionists were partially separated at the moment; Fran was training with Belphegor and Mammon was working on Mikari's abilities. Squalo was currently fighting with Lussuria, having escaped death by Flame of Wrath by running around and making Xanxus realize it wasn't worth it to chase him down anymore. The swordsman looked to have completely recovered from and forgotten that morning's strangeness; Mikari noticed it and looked from him to Mammon. Her master nodded and she smiled a bit; the next thing that happened was simple. Another manly scream from Squalo and everyone looked at him to see him shrieking and shaking his arm frantically.  
"God dammit get it away!" He yelled and tried to pull off his artificial hand and sword.  
"What is it Squ-chan?" Lussuria cooed concerned.  
"Can't you see the goddamn thing? It's a huge ass snake!" Squalo said and threw the limb and weapon far away, out into the forest.  
Lussuria looked over at Levi and Bel, Xanxus' eye twitching angrily; Fran kept his calm and Mikari blinked, tilting her head, "A giant snake? But...Squalo, that was your hand. And your sword..."  
A moment of silence and stillness; Bel snickered, amused by the whole situation, and Squalo's expression was blank for that moment. Then more screaming with a string of profanities; Xanxus shot at him again and Squalo once more just barely evaded death before running after his sword. His hand didn't matter so much since he had others but he liked his sword and really didn't want to lose it. The others watched him go off to retrieve it; Levi complained about him being crazy yet still Xanxus' favorite, Lussuria wondered if Squalo was okay, Bel snickered and Xanxus growled angrily. Fran shook his head but hid his smile, and Mikari giggled softly, hugging Mammon again. The oldest illusionist's expression didn't change but he was very much pleased as well.

By nightfall Squalo was cowering in his room. Truly cowering. He wasn't sure what was going on but he knew he wasn't crazy; unfortunately he wasn't completely sure. His eyes were betraying him, his ears too since he heard that snake hissing; his mind had to be too but he couldn't be sure. Curled up in a corner he looked around paranoid then heard a familiar voice making him jump, "Hello Squalo."  
He nearly jumped. Nearly but he was still the Varia swordsman and he had his dignity so instead he turned around carefully to see who spoke.  
There in the doorway was Mammon, floating with his little oriboras Phantasma above his head; the silver haired man couldn't see Mikari anywhere which meant he and the illusionist baby were alone.  
"What do you want?" Asked Squalo in an annoyance and gruff tone, borderline growling at this point in time.  
"Mu, you seem unhappy to see me," Mammon said and came closer, his expression and tone showing no emotion whatsoever.  
"I'm not in the mood to talk to you now leave you pesky baby!" Squalo tried swinging at Mammon but he dodged each attack easily, still floating.  
"That's not very nice," he said and shook his head, "I just wished to ask you for something."  
Squalo twitched, "And that would be?"  
"An apology."  
"For trying to slice you up?! Fine, I'm sorry! Now-"  
"No," Mammon interrupted, "I wish for you to apologize and pay reparations for what you said yesterday about illusionists being useless."  
Squalo stopped for a moment and looked confused then roared, "What the fuck are you talking about?! I don't have time for this!"  
Mammon sighed and shook his head, his cloak starting to flutter, "then more punishment is in order."  
Squalo's eyes widened and a scream was soon heard.

No one knows what it is Mammon did or showed him, no one dare ask, but it was for certain when he apologized the next day to Mikari and Fran: Squalo should have never tried to mess with three illusionists.

* * *

Vene: and that boys and girls is why we don't piss off Mammon. XD

Nihon: Right...Anyway, there's the third story; I'll be working on the fourth if you need me.

Vene: Ve!~ Me too. Oh and please do tell us if you think the Varia should know Mammon can become his big self for short amounts of time; I wanna know DX


End file.
